1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable telephone with a built-in camera, and more particularly, to a portable telephone with a camera having a rotatable lens which enables users to aim an object in a desired rotational angle as wide as possible.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, Portable telephones include cellular phones or Personal Communication Systems (PCS) having wireless communication capabilities. Nowadays as the need of video/image communication emerges, as well as voice communication, a portable telephone with a camera can be suggested to satisfy this demand.
By considering FIG. 1, a conventional portable telephone with a camera can be described as follows. Inside of a main body 1 of the portable telephone, a camera 3 is mounted on the fixed location of an upper body. This type of portable telephone with a camera is unable to aim an object with any various angles without rotating a whole body, since the camera lens is formed into an embody of a portable telephone. For instance, since the camera lens is always facing out in the same direction of a LCD from the main body 1, users cannot aim a lens toward an object on the other side while they're looking at the LCD. Therefore in order to shoot an object on the other side (in the opposite direction of a LCD face), the main body 1 of a portable telephone needs to be turned around. Afterwards, users cannot check an aiming position of the camera lens, since not being able to look at the LCD on the main body. In short, by facing the main body out of users' side, they're unable to look at the image of pictures through the LCD panel such as a viewfinder of a camera. And also once it is turned around, it is hard to use function keys on a control panel. This leads to one of drawbacks.
FIG. 2 illustrates another example of conventional portable telephones with a camera. In an upper end of a main body 1 of this portable telephone, a camera lens 3a is installed separated from the main body 1. In this case, this camera can only rotate with limited angles, for instance rotating up and down in a sense. This type of portable telephone with a camera gives a limitation such that it rotates in narrow angles. Since even the camera lens is exposed and sticks out on the edge of the main body 1, it is quite easy to be damaged and contaminated.
FIG. 3 illustrates another example of conventional portable telephones. In FIG. 3, a camera is mounted on an upper end of a main body. This camera rotates only on a horizontal axis. In this case, not being capable of rotating on a vertical axis (front to back of the main body 1), the horizontal rotational movement of camera doesn't give enough angles to shoot an object in a desired position. Unfortunately this type of camera on a portable telephone could not solve the problem in the previous example, such as easily damaged and contaminated of a camera lens.